


It Took a Couple Hundred Miles

by TheCobraOfHell



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Fluff, Fluff, Other, Road Trips, Slow Burn, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-08-23 05:18:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16612640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCobraOfHell/pseuds/TheCobraOfHell
Summary: She promised you that, despite the distance, you two were still the closest of friends. Nadia always keeps her promises and, to help dull the pain of visiting her overly doting family, she thought she'd bring you along. As it turns out, a couple hundred miles spent together with only the windshield and static-ridden radio to keep you company can really change how you feel about a person- especially so if it's your passenger.





	1. Chapter 1

“So- what are you going to do on your winter break?” Your mind was numbed, completely dead from the drones of your last professor playing on repeat in your mind. You know what he was saying was probably important, probably something to do with the final you would take next month, and you probably should have been writing it down. Hell though- no one was at the moment- why should you care? Instead, the repeat of some polynomial you can’t completely recall just sits there. 

Your roommate leans back in his computer chair, his back creaking like that of some elderly man’s with just the slightest shift of his shoulders. The disgusting sound makes you grimace. He swivels in the chair with a creak and shrugs. “Studying. I’ve been procrastinating…” God the poor guy looks exhausted- have the bags under his eyes gotten bigger?

You tsk and sigh at him. “Julian- why do you keep doing this to yourself? You’re gonna end up stressing your heart with all the worrying you put yourself through.”

Julian, again, just shrugs. “I find that I do my best work when I’m under a self-induced time constraint.”

Before you can scold him your phone buzzes and lights up to alert you of a text message. The flash of a familiar name makes a grin split across your features and, now, it’s Julian’s turn judge you with an arched brow. “You’ve been getting a lot of texts lately- who’s that special someone, cmon, tell me~” 

You wave him off, tapping a response despite the way Julian inched closer and tried to peer over your shoulder at who the person might be. Only a firm slap to his shoulder (one that Julian gives a feigned hiss of pain at) makes him finally back off.

Defeated, he challenges you softly, “What about you? Got any plans?”

As if on cue, you glance at your phone again despite its dark screen. She’ll respond in an hour most likely. “Several.”

You’re thankful that Julian drops the subject within said hour as it gives you peace when your phone next lights up again. Whilst he worries and bawls over page after page of his lab report, you open your phone and find yourself smiling once again. 

‘Tomorrow. We can get breakfast and be there by sun down. Hopefully they’ll be asleep. -_- ‘

Oh dear, again with the hopefully. Without too much thought, you’ve tapped out a response. ‘But I like your sisters! They’re very sweet. I know you think they’re annoying but don’t you miss them?’. 

Immediately, you receive back, ‘Not really’. 

‘They’re annoying.’

‘And overbearing.’

‘And just.’

‘UGH’

‘I don’t understand how you can like them.’

You pause for a moment and think longer on your response. ‘I guess it’s because I didn’t grow up with them. It’s understandable for you to not like them as much especially since they’re all older.’

Her response comes shortly after- ‘I guess.’ But her typing continues, and your grin widens as you read, ‘But I’m more excited to see you than them anyway.’

She’s excited to see you- _you_. You were going to see her in the morning. The only sad part of that thought was the idea that you had to sleep soon, especially with the time very quickly crawling towards midnight. You tap out a final response before setting your phone off to the side.

‘I’m excited to see you too Nadia. See you tomorrow, sleep well!’

-

Your sleep ends with a chaotic mix of your blaring phone alarm and the sound of falling books and the crack of something plastic. You perk over the side of your bed and, to your horror, find a mess scattered over the floor of papers, binders, writing utensils, and the spill of some dark brown liquid (coffee, it must be) already soaking into the carpet. 

Just as quickly as the sound had roused you, Julian spurs to his feet with wide eyes and an even wider, defensive stance. “I’m up- I’m here!” He announces just as quickly in a huff of breath, glancing back and forth between his desk and yourself as you lay in bed. Just beside him, his computer chair is toppled with one of the legs seemingly cracked from being bent awkwardly.

Shutting off your alarm, you croak, “What the hell are you talking about? And is that coffee?!”

With wide, bashful eyes, Julian gawks at the spilled coffee as it continues to soak into the carpet. “I- ahh…” and he rushes, grabbing a wayward roll of paper towel and kneeling to clean up the mess he made. 

Whilst he cleans up his mess, you unlock your phone to check your updates. You’re met with two texts. 

‘Left early to avoid traffic. See you soon!’

And then- ‘Here, which dorm?’

Oh god, she was already here?! You give her the directions to your dorm room and quickly rise to your feet as well, stumbling around your shared dorm room to find your pre-packed suitcase (thank you past self) as well as clothes you could change into. You have to scramble, pulling out a shirt, a pair of pants, and some undergarments from random drawers in your dresser before holing up into the bathroom to change. 

Of course, it was mid shirt adjustment that Nadia’s soft knocks were at the dorm room door. “I got it-” You called out insistently, shoving your shirt down and striding out, opening the door to reveal her in all her glory. 

Nadia Satrinava. 

She looks so impeccably out of place striding through community college grounds, but she has purpose, and you can see it in the way she looks at you like a relief. Thank god she found you. Her lips curl up in a bemused smile. “Oh should I give you a moment?” Her eyes flick over your form and, following them, you realize that your shirt is lop-sided with one of your arms accidentally snuck through the neck hole. 

“Ah- uhm…” It only takes a moment of adjusting really, but your cheeks are burning nonetheless as Nadia gives the softest tinkle of a laugh at your predicament. 

“Who’s your friend huh?”

As quickly as Nadia had been smiling, her expression falls. She looks over your shoulder at the dawdle of a man who stumbles over a collapsed chair to approach the two of you. She very quickly gathers herself and clears her throat before introducing, “I’m Nadia. And you-?”

“Julian, the roomie.” He holds out a hand that Nadia tentatively takes in a shake. “Although I think I might be promoted to friend soon huh? What do you think?”

At Julian’s question, you shrug. “I don’t know- that coffee spill is a pretty big demotion in my book.”

“Hey, I cleaned it up!” Julian gives a small pout and a firm pat to your shoulder before quickly evacuating himself. “I would chat more with you both but ah- I fell asleep while I was studying last night. I gotta pick up where I left off.”

You would have commended him as his introduction wasn’t prolonged into a retelling of how you ended up as roommates (your last roommate, literal hell incarnate, ended up throwing a stink bomb into Julian’s old dorm- it’s a long story), but something about his sheepish grin told you he’d rather you not. Then, glancing at Nadia, you notice her disinterested stare as she watches him turn to his desk. 

She looks at you then, and her lips immediately twitch upward. “So, breakfast first?”

You give her an eager nod, already grabbing your coat and suitcase. “Breakfast first.”

And then you’ll be off. Just you, Nadia, and a couple hundred miles to catch up. Oh what a time it’ll be.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking with Nadia is an exhilarating and frightening experience. In this little town, where you had started going to community college, there isn’t even a mall nearby. The population is below 5,000 and it’s almost homey. The little diner near campus sees a mixture of college students and elderly folk throughout their average day- and that’s where you decide to get breakfast. 

You say it’s exhilarating due to the way she walks- powerful yet tame, unyielding to any predatory or judgemental stare. It was clear that she didn’t care about what others thought of her, and you adore it. But it’s frightening because people do stare. City slicker. She was rich and she showed it. Her coat was made of fine material that you wondered how many of your school books it was worth (your bet was on five) and her hair, silky, beautiful, was perfectly styled despite the rugged and cold air. She didn’t live here, didn’t come from here, and it was shockingly obvious. 

The most expensive breakfast dish was only fifteen dollars and the cups had certainly seen some wear. The owners had been married for thirty years and had been running the diner for almost the same amount of time. It is the epitome of homey when you come in as the waitress, the daughter of the owners, greets people by name. Nadia, though, is a new face- so entering with her greets you with an echo of your own name and ‘Honey’ substituted for Nadia. 

Your table creaks a little as the waitress seats you. You become hyper-aware of how strange Nadia looks then, her pretty, perfectly painted nails flipping through the flimsy menu, sitting back against the booth chair where the plastic has been picked from antsy children. You’re so enthralled by her that you don’t hear the waitress as she turns to you, asking what you’d like. So you stutter, glancing at the menu before choosing the most basic breakfast option you can think of, eggs cooked exactly how you liked. 

Nadia got something simple too and with a side of coffee. 

Finally alone with her, you bring up something that’s been on your mind since she suggested taking you to her parents, “Are you sure you don’t want to switch midway through? It’s an eight hour drive…”

She casually waves you off, perking up briefly as her coffee arrives and immediately taking a sip from it. “No I’m sure. I’ve made the drive several times before.”

“Yeah but-”

“No buts, it’ll be okay. Besides, then I’ll have a good reason to just sleep the first day we’re there.” Nadia gives a small, sly smile and buries herself in her coffee for a time. When she’s emptied her cup she’s quickly waving at the waitress for a refill. “If we need a break we can just stop somewhere off the highway, it’ll be okay.”

“Alright…”

You figure it’s better to agree with her than to talk her out of it, especially since you’ll be looking forward to an eight hour drive with her. Besides, Nadia would know her own limits better than anyone, so why not trust her?

Before long breakfast arrives and you’re discussing over eggs and toast about what to expect at the Satrinava household. All of her sisters will be arriving for the winter season, all except for Nazali who may only get to visit for a few days due to work. Every dinner is collaborative, you’ll probably get to help at some point, and there will most likely be a party where more guests will be arriving from extended family to close friends. 

You’d met them a long while ago during your last few years of highschool. It was only during your last year that you had been to the Satrinava household, and you haven’t been there since so the prospect of returning and meeting even more people at some point is…

A little terrifying. 

You must’ve gotten a little pale at the thought because soon after Nadia’s hand has become pressed to your own, holding reassuringly. “The party will only last for that Friday, and then the weekend will be calmer. Just you and me and-- family.”

Family… right. But Nadia smiles for your sake, and that is enough for you. “Alright, thanks Nadia.”

Nadia’s smile widens a bit. She continues to hold your hand whilst the waitress gives out your bill and immediately swipes it from your grip, tsking when you make a fuss about it. After signing, she winks and stands, pulling her coat tight. “Off we go?”

“Off we go.”

And so now you found yourself loading in the car with Nadia manning the driver’s seat. She leans over to hand you the aux cord (you’re the real guiding force in this car ride now) and turns the key, but it’s the shift in gears and the start of the first song in your road trip playlist that is the real start to your journey. 

Just yourself, Nadia, and the windshield, and of course the annoying niche music that only you and Nadia seem to adore. Eight hours of this should fly by with no problem whatsoever.


	3. Chapter 3

When you wake up surrounded by the deep thrum of the car engine you realize how long you must’ve been asleep for. You open your eyes, half bleary from sleep, and glance out the window to see the passing of bigger buildings, going by in a blur as you travel the fast paces of the freeway. 

“Hey you, you’re finally awake. Trying to get in a quick snooze while I drive?” Nadia’s soft tease makes you wake up even more. You turn in your seat, straining the tense muscles of your back and arms and groaning in response at her. “Only about an hour left and we’ll be out of the city and in the mountains. Want some gum?”

“Gum?” You test back curiously. 

Nadia answers back by pulling out a pack and handing it to you. “It helps pop your ears from the pressure, I always end up chewing some once we start up the side roads otherwise my headaches get worse.”

You pull out one of the foil packets and spare Nadia another glance whilst she focuses on the road. You notice she’s already chewing on a piece, and it seems to be helping the strain in her skull if at least a little bit. It seems that seven hours of driving haven’t ruined her too badly, only gently smudging up a bit of her eyeliner making her look somewhat tired, but even then she looks well put together. You find yourself lingering on her still perfectly intact lipstick, admiring her then for a while and entranced with the way her lips mould and move as she chews. 

When she glances back at you with a smile you have to look away and immediately shove the gum into your mouth.   
The hour is passed by quickly as you exit the freeway and immediately go off of the highway into some low populated town. It, too, passes quickly with only a sparse downtown area and then, with a few more randomly spaced roads, you’re driving up into the mountains. 

The Satrinava estate is large and a little overbearing to the first-time viewer. From the moment you first turn onto the road in which it’s built it takes you about twenty minutes just to reach it, scaling a few thousand feet and then making just one more turn to get up the long driveway. It’s a long stretch of house, downright near a mansion, and it’s used to host numerous parties for friends and extended family as well as the occasional staff holiday. You’ve heard that 20 guests can stay comfortably in the house along with the entire household itself. It’s easy to believe too, from what you have seen of it at least. 

You had been here only a handful of times, mostly for birthday parties and one time for a sleepover, so you hope that you won’t get lost too often in its numerous corridors and rooms. 

The clock only just fell over the cusp of five in the afternoon when Nadia finally parked the car in the back lot. It’s already filled to the brim with other vehicles and snowmobiles to help trek the mountain and surrounding town below. You don’t take notice of Nadia’s disdainful sigh as she gets out and unlocks the trunk. When you get out, your feet gently crunch into the flattened snow. It hasn’t snowed much this year in general, but the mountain seems to supply at least a little bit for the season, mostly dangling in the tree branches and clutching onto the bushes. 

You round the car and start helping Nadia with the few bags you brought with. It was only a week’s worth of a stay, of course, and you had only packed up two backpacks worth of stuff for said week. Nadia did similar, bringing along with her a laptop bag just in case there was free time to finish that last term paper. 

With bags in hand, you walk inside with Nadia. 

The sight is certainly something to behold. 

Warm and homey are the first traits that come to your mind as you step onto carpet and shove off your shoes. Lights decorate banisters and railings while candles are lit on some of the end tables. The scent of spices and fresh pine waft past, not overwhelming and leaving an imprint of the season on your brain. The warmth of the room makes you sweat under your coat, and you pause, setting your bags down to undo your winter garb and set it on the nearby coat rack. Nadia does similarly, untucking her hair from her clothes and sighing with what might be annoyance before grabbing the bags again. 

Whilst your curiosity guides you inward, Nadia seems to stride, already making her way up the nearest staircase. “I want to settle everything down before I’m bombarded with questions, come dear-” She’s calling over her shoulder at you, beckoning to be faster. Before you can even climb the rest of the stairs though, Nadia has ducked into one corridor and you’ve lost her. In that moment, you linger, trying to recall as many memories as you can of this large abode. 

It is then, you hear your name again- but it’s in a very different tone. Excited yet soft, and suddenly arms are wrapped around your waist and you are tugged into the warm embrace of none other than Nasmira. Oh Nasmira- definitely the most comforting of the Satrinava sisters, she had been around the most when you would spend time with Nadia during school. She’d often offered to help you with homework or to invite you out, but for some reason Nadia had always shooed her away. You’d always wanted to ask her about that…

“It’s so good to see you again!”

“Same, Nasmira!”

“So please, tell me, how is school going for you? You’re still at the community college right? I’ve heard good things about the veterinary program…”

Nasmira is a blessing to have around you’ve quickly found out. She’s very well versed in calming a tense situation and, even now with you just confused and lost, she’s able to calm you without more than a gentle hand as she guides you to where you’ll be sleeping. You keep up the conversation with her, relaying how you’ve finished gen eds and are hoping to focus in on such and such particular field, to which she gives a fond if not slightly sad expression. 

“We hope Nadi does the same,” is all she says and, for once, she leaves you clueless. “Here is the guest room you can stay in, I ironed the sheets myself just yesterday. Nadia’s room is down the hall, to the right, first door,” she points gently and smiles before turning and leaving. 

The room is spacious and not at all uninviting with its own queen sized bed and comforter tucked perfectly into the mattress. A complimentary bathrobe and towel are set beside the table next to the adjacent bathroom, reminding you of some expensive hotels. While a part of you is eager to fill the tub, wash up, and settle in for a quick snooze before dinner- a greater part of you is calling, telling you to find Nadia after she seemed to quickly abandon you. 

Abandon? No, not really abandon. But there was definitely something wrong. 

So you set your bags inside and, just as quickly as you’d been given a room, you left it. Down the hall, to the right, first door…

And then you hear the softest of sobs. 

The door was slightly ajar, seemingly pushed to close but not pushed hard enough, and you hesitate only slightly before letting yourself in. 

Nadia was still for a moment, hand braced over her mouth and leaned forward as she sat on her childhood bed. Her hair was draped over her face, hiding her no doubt ruined expression from your prying eyes. When you step forward, giving the softest breath, she suddenly lifted her head and looked at you shocked and ashamed. You had not once in the many years of knowing Nadia Satrinava ever seen her cry. 

Her lip wobbles, her cheeks and her eyes are red, and that eyeliner she had only just barely smudged in the car ride was now completely smeared and dripping down her cheeks. She has words stuck on her lips, you can tell, you can see it in the way she opens her mouth only to close it and look away as though she were a chastized child. 

It’s hard to walk in- to see her like this. You’ve only ever thought of her as uniquely powerful, unaffected by those trivial things that had made you cry. Especially now, being home with family, shouldn’t this be her happiest time?

Yet, you manage. You walk in close and slowly sit next to her on the bed, letting it sink under your combined weight. When you set a hand on her own and gently twine your fingers with hers, she holds it back. Then Nadia whimpers, her hand holds desperately onto your own as though you are the only one she can trust in such a dark time. 

“I don’t want to be here.”

You hadn’t prepared yourself to hear a confession like that, and you wondered then what this meant for your picturesque holiday vacation.


End file.
